Keep Up to Date with Our Tech News

Venom IT raise £600 for the DSA with GDPR Training Seminar

We would like to thank everyone who attended our Cyber Security and GDPR training seminar for helping us to raise £600 for the Down’s Syndrome Association; all the proceeds from ticket sales for the event have been donated to the Charity.

We hosted the seminar at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to help guide businesses towards compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The GDPR is a new set of legislation which outlines measures an organisation must take when handling personal information. It comes into effect in just 3 months on the 25th May 2018, replacing the current data protection act, and applies to all companies that handle/ keep records of personal data.

Failure to comply with the GDPR could see companies fined up to 4% of their annual turnover or £17 million, depending on which figure is higher. On top of this, damage to reputation could be catastrophic, with potential customers unwilling to trust businesses with their information. The Cyber Security and GDPR training seminar was set up to help businesses avoid these punishments for non-compliance but also present the positives of the regulation.

The event was spilt into two sections with a break for breakfast in between. The first half was dedicated to the GDPR and the second focused on cyber security. Christoan Smit, Data Protection Officer at Venom IT guided the attendees through the steps to GDPR compliance from a technical point of view before guest speaker Michael Buckworth from corporate law firm Buckworths explained the GDPR from a legal perspective.

After breakfast, Laura Hodgson from TITAN, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit presented on the threat of cyber crime, providing tips on how to prevent it. Christoan Smit then returned to demonstrate how to implement a strategy to ensure data security. This was followed by Andy Adshead from the Royal Bank of Scotland, who discussed the importance of banking security.

Becki Powell, Managing Director at Venom IT, spoke after the event, she said:

“As a cloud hosting and cyber security wholesaler, we have had a large number of businesses approach us with questions on the GDPR and how to keep their data safe. With this in mind, we decided to host the Cyber Security and GDPR training seminar to raise awareness of what needs to be done in order to comply.”

As well as teaching businesses about the GDPR and cyber security, the other main purpose of the event was to raise money for the Down’s Syndrome Association and Fran Austin from the charity had the chance to demonstrate some of the work they do in a short presentation.

Becki Powell went on to say:

“The DSA is a charity which is close to our hearts here at Venom IT and the help and support they provide is amazing. We were delighted to be able to donate the full £600 from ticket sales from the event and will continue to support the charity with fundraising activities throughout the year.”

Fran Austin, WorkFit Employment Development Officer at the Down’s Syndrome Association spoke of the importance of the money raised, she said:

“We are extremely grateful to Venom IT for giving us the opportunity to talk about the work of the Down’s Syndrome Association, particularly our WorkFit programme, at the beginning of the training session. WorkFit finds the right employment opportunities for people with Down’s syndrome. The money that was raised will be used to support the delivery of the WorkFit programme…thank you all so much, we look forward to continuing to work with Venom IT in the near future.”

If you missed the seminar and require any help with the GDPR or cyber security, please get in touch. We offer a range of GDPR services including one to one sessions with our trained Data Protection Officer as well as staff training. You can download our free e-booklet on the GDPR here. On top of this, we also provide robust Cyber Security Solutions and our ultra-secure cloud hosting will keep your data safe, helping you to comply with the GDPR. For more information, call us on 0330 202 0220 or fill out our contact form.